Lessons Learned - The Negative

[Gary Fields]

[quote=EricH;852427]There were. If the practice fields were being run as practice rounds, then I think FIRST made the biggest mistake ever. (<G14> not excepted.)[/QUOTE

FIRST tried something new this year, wireless control of the robots on the practice field. In years past robots were required to be tethered.

The wireless operations required having set practiced rounds, and safety required not having people on the field while the robots were moving....It does not require a lot of thought to realize that you don't want people to get hit by a 130lb robot going full speed down the field. I don't know about you, but it is not worth getting hit, to make an adjustment. To get a prospective on how dangerous the practice fields were, more trailers were damaged on the 2 practice fields, than were damaged in competition on all 5 fields.

I for one, because of all the comments made here, and comments, abuse, and the non-GP treatment that was given practice field volunteers, am going to recommend that FIRST goes back to the all robots must be tethered while on the practice field.

Please remember the volunteers were running the fields as they were instructed. Ask yourself.....Did you treat those volunteers as you would have liked to be treated? I witnessed on more than one occasion mentors verbally abusing the volunteers running the fields. This should be unacceptable to all of us. Instead of criticizing the volunteers you should be thanking them!

To illustrate some of the non-GP actions....While repairing one of the trailers on the Curie/Archimedes practice field I set down a wrench, & a socket wrench (My own tools.) on the sign up table. A volunteer was dealing with a mentor, and need my help to answer a question. Turned around to pick them up less than a minute later, and they were gone.

I hope that all of you who found time to criticize how the practice fields were run, will find time to volunteer at a practice field next year.